Renal disorders are a major health concern in the United States, with an estimated 11.5 percent of adults ages 20 or older in the U.S. having physiological evidence of a chronic kidney disease (Levey et al. Annals of Internal Medicine 2009, 150:604-612). Renal disorders include short-term disorders that may cause temporary changes in kidney function such as kidney infections, obstruction from kidney stones, sepsis, hypovolumia, trauma, and some medications; chronic disorders where impaired kidney function may be permanent; and total kidney failure. When the kidneys lose about ninety percent or more of their function, an individual is diagnosed with “end-stage renal disease (ESRD).”